The very first of these sentinels was an old soldier of Jackson, who knew him well.

“Mr. Kenton!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, Thorn!  It’s you!” said Harry without hesitation.

The soldier was pleased that he should be recognized thus in the dusk, and he was still more pleased when the young aide leaned down and shook his hand.

“I might have known, Thorn, that I’d find you here, rifle on your arm, watching,” he said.

“Thank you, Mr. Kenton.  You’ll find the general over there on a log by the fire.”

Harry dismounted, gave his horse to a soldier and walked into the glade.  Ewell sat alone, his crutch under his arms, his one foot kicking back the coals, his bald head a white disc in the glow.

“General Ewell, sir,” said Harry.

General Ewell turned about and when he saw Harry his face clearly showed gladness.  He could not rise easily, but he stretched out a welcoming hand.

“Ah!  Kenton,” he said, “you’re a pleasant sight to tired eyes like mine.  You bring back the glorious old days in the valley.  So it’s a message from the commander-in-chief?”

“Yes, sir.  Here it is.”

Ewell read it rapidly by the firelight and smiled.

“He tells us we’re nearest to the enemy,” he said, “and to hold fast, if we’re attacked.  You’re to remain with us and report what happens, but doubtless you knew all this.”

“Yes, I had to commit it to memory before I started.”

“Then stay here with me.  I may want to report to General Lee at any time.  The enemy is in our front only three or four miles away.  He knows we’re here and it was a villainous surprise to him to find us in his way.  They say this man Grant is a pounder.  So is Lee, when the time comes to pound, but he’s that and far more.  I tell you, young man, that General Lee has had to trim a lot of Northern generals.  McClellan and Pope and Burnside and Hooker and Meade have been going to school to him, and now Grant is qualifying for his class.”

“But Grant is a great general.  So our men in the West themselves say.”

“He may be, but Lee is greater, greatest.  And, Harry, you and I, who knew him and loved him, wish that another who alone was fit to ride by his side was here with him.”

“I wish it from the bottom of my heart,” said Harry.

“Well, well, regrets are useless.  Help me up, Harry.  I’m only part of a man, but I can still fight.”

“We saw you do that at Gettysburg,” said Harry, as he put his arm under Ewell’s shoulder.  Then Ewell took his crutch and they walked to the far side of the glade, where several officers of his staff gathered around him.

“Lieutenant Kenton, whom you all know,” said General Ewell, “has brought a message from the commander-in-chief that we will be attacked first, and to be on guard.  We consider it an honor, do we not, my lads?”

“Yes, let them come,” they said.